Indiana University Athletics
IU Upended by Notre Dame, 55-45
12/8/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
December 8, 2004
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Indiana struggled from the field and four Notre Dame players scored double figures as the Fighting Irish defeated the Hoosiers, 55-45, on Wednesday night in Assembly Hall.
Freshman forward D.J. White scored a team-high 13 points, grabbed a team-high seven rebounds and tied his career high with five blocks. Freshman forward Robert Vaden added 10 points, while junior guard Bracey Wright joined White in corralling a team-high seven rebounds.
IU shot 16-for-53 (30.2%) from the floor and 5-for-20 (25.0%) from behind the three-point arc. The Hoosiers only made 1-of-10 (10.0%) triples in the second half.
With the score 48-38 in favor of Notre Dame (4-1), White made one of two free throws and junior guard Marshall Strickland made a lay-up to cut the Irish lead to 48-41 with 2:46 to play in the game.
The Irish countered with a three-point play in the post from senior forward Dennis Latimore to make their advantage 51-41 with 1:51 to play in the game. White connected on a lay-up and sophomore forward Pat Ewing, Jr. made a reverse dunk to cut the margin to 51-45, but that was as close as the Hoosiers would get.
Indiana (2-3) missed its final two three-pointers and the Irish made four-of-six from the free throw line for the final margin. It was the first Notre Dame win in Bloomington since Dec. 11, 1973.
Indiana jumped out to an early 2-0 lead on a jump hook by White. The Irish countered on a triple from senior guard Chris Thomas at 19:13 to take a 3-2 advantage. Wright nailed a trey to put the Hoosiers ahead, 5-3, but a Latimore dunk knotted the game at 5-5.
The Hoosiers went the next 9:36 of the first half with only one basket, a Vaden three-pointer, at 14:17. The Irish went on a 12-3 run over that span to open up a 17-8 advantage with 10:19 to play.
Strickland stopped the run with a three-pointer from the corner to cut the Notre Dame lead to 17-11 with 9:13 to play in the frame. Wright nailed a triple from the opposite corner at 5:43 to make the score 17-14 in favor of the Irish.
The Irish went on a drought of their own, failing to score a basket over the next 6:12 of the half. Junior guard Chris Quinn ended the spell by hitting back-to-back treys to push Notre Dame ahead 23-14 with 4:02 to play. It was the second time the Irish led by nine points.
The Hoosiers closed the half with a 6-0 run on a jumper by Vaden, a rebound put-back from White and a pair of free throws from senior guard Mark Johnson to make the score 23-20 at the break. Johnson added a pair of rebounds in 18 minutes of action.
Latimore made one free throw for the first points of the second half at 19:40, but Vaden converted a lay-up off of a rebound to cut the Irish lead to a pair at 24-22.
Latimore had a tip-in with 18:31 to play in the second half to put Notre Dame ahead 28-22. Vaden hit a three-pointer from the top of the key to cut the margin to 28-25 with 17:54 to play.
The Irish would score the next four points on a pair of free throws from Francis and a lay-up from Latimore to push their advantage to 32-25 with 15:58 to play, forcing head coach Mike Davis to call a timeout.
Ewing connected on a baseline jumper with 12:37 remaining, cutting the Notre Dame lead to 36-27.
White made a pair of free throw to make the game 36-29, but Thomas hit a trey from about four feet beyond the three-point line to give the Irish a double-digit lead at 39-29 with 10:12 to play.
White and junior forward Torin Francis traded baskets to make the game 41-31, but the Hoosiers got a three-point play from Ewing and pair of free throws from sophomore guard Roderick Wilmont to cut the margin to 41-36. Notre Dame responded with back-to-back jumpers from Quinn and Thomas to move ahead 45-36 with 5:58 to play.
Thomas connected on a three-point play to give Notre Dame its biggest lead of the game at 48-36 with 4:41 to go. White grabbed a rebound and converted a lay-up to make the score 48-38 with 3:51 left.
Thomas and Quinn scored 13 points apiece to led Notre Dame. Latimore chipped in with 12 and Francis was the fourth player in double figures with 11. Francis grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds.
Indiana will return to action on Saturday, Dec. 11, at 1:30 p.m. (EST), against Kentucky at Freedom Hall in Louisville. The Hoosiers and the Wildcats will match-up live on CBS with Craig Bolerjack (play-by-play) and Clark Kellogg (color) on the call. The game can also be heard live on the IU Radio Network with Don Fischer (play-by-play), Todd Leary (analysis) and Joe Smith (pre game, halftime and post game).
